May 22, 2011

A photograph of Valerie Mosley's backyard chickens through a patio screen as they explore rose bushes one day after making her late for work.

Valerie Mosley

News-Leader photographer Valerie Mosley recommends the film "The Natural History of the Chicken" to anyone skeptical about the joy of raising chickens. vmosley@news-leader.com

417-836-1286

More

ADVERTISEMENT

About two weeks ago, my husband, Jamie, and I went to Millsap Farm to buy four laying hens. I admitted to Leslie, who handles the farm animals, that I wasn't sure if we knew what we were doing.

I had researched chicken care earlier in the year, but got tired of wading through so much information.

My plan was to jump in and figure it out along the way. A friend of mine says chickens are easier to take care of than a large dog. How hard could it be? Leslie gave us a few pointers and assured us we'd learn quickly.

A couple of days later, I learned my first lessons. Just before leaving for work, I checked their food and water and decided I better fill both. I lifted the bottom of the chicken run to get to the feeder and waterer, and all four birds ran out.

Lesson 1: Chickens are impossible to catch. They start running as soon as you get near them, and change directions when you catch up. Eventually, I chased them all back into their living quarters, but I was late for work that day, much to the amusement of my boss.

Lesson 2: It's much easier to feed them at night, when they're less likely to escape. As Novella Carpenter put it in her book, "Farm City," "Chickens are immobilized by the dark." At dusk they file into place on the roost until the sun comes up.

We're getting the hang of it and have already collected more than three dozen eggs.

Our evenings are now spent in the backyard enjoying chicken antics. Watching Jamie chase them through the yard, just for the fun of it, I remembered a professor at the University of Missouri saying, "Chickens are inherently funny."

I'm not sure what's funnier, the chickens, or the sight of us chasing them around.